Petrol and LPG powered vehicles continue to lose ground as more drivers choose diesel to power their vehicles, according to the latest ABS Motor Vehicle Census data. The demise of LPG is particularly stark with 34,769 (9.2 per cent) fewer LPG vehicles registered in 2017 compared with 2016 and 146,750 (29.9 per cent) less than five years ago.

“While the number of petrol powered vehicles increased (0.8 per cent) from 2016 to 2017 their share of the total fleet decreased again. The proportion of vehicles fuelled by petrol has decreased from 88.1 per cent of the national fleet in 2012 to 75.7 per cent in 2017," Michaela Cook, the ABS Director of Transport and Tourism, said.

“Diesel vehicles remain a popular choice in 2017, with 313,551 (8.1 per cent) more diesel vehicles registered than in the previous year.”

The increasing popularity of diesel has seen a 57 per cent increase in the number of diesel fuelled vehicles since 2012. Vehicles powered by diesel account for 22.2 per cent of the national fleet in 2017, up from 15.9 per cent five years ago.

Toyota topped the list of registered passenger vehicles by manufacturer with 2.8 million Toyotas on register in 2017, 11.7 per cent more than five years ago. Holden and Ford came second and third respectively in the race for most registered passenger vehicles in 2017, however, both manufacturers reported a decrease when compared to five years ago. Holden decreased by 10 per cent from 2012 to 2017, whereas Ford decreased by 20.1 per cent over the same period. Mazda and Hyundai round out the top five passenger vehicle makes on register in 2017, increasing by 40.8 per cent and 37.3 per cent respectively in the five years since 2012.

“The 2017 Motor Vehicles Census shows that the registered national fleet grew by 2.1 per cent from last year to 18.8 million registered vehicles,” Cook said.

The 2017 Motor Vehicle Census details the number of registered motor vehicles in Australia and provides information such as vehicle type, vehicle characteristics including the year of manufacture, and type of fuel used.